If you’re a passionate baker like me, you’ve probably already noticed the positive effects it has had on you. Whether you enjoy baking bread, cakes, desserts, or even savory dishes, the enjoyment factor applies universally.
The time that goes into the process, incorporating family members to include furry children and human children alike, and providing your loved ones with a delicious treat, all make for an incredibly positive experience.
Bonding with Kids Through Baking
Have you ever wondered about the science behind these positive effects and why you feel so relaxed, and fulfilled after a good baking session? Let’s dive into it.
The Science Behind Positive Effects:
- Baking is meditative. When you are about to bake, you must plan out and measure each ingredient. This requires concentration, logical thought, and rationale which are not present when you are in a state of distress. As you enter this meditative state, you’re essentially telling your brain that your environment is safe, and good things are about to come!
- Depending on what you are baking, there can be a lot of sensory integration. (This is especially great for adults and children alike). The smell of chocolate, the texture of honey, and all the ingredients contain some special element that stimulates your senses in a great way! The little ones love the dusty flour or squishy egg batter!
- Happy Hormones, Commence! When you are engaging in the art of baking, your brain is actively releasing dopamine and serotonin, which are known as the ‘happy hormones’ of the body. Serotonin can increase happiness while dopamine increases motivation, drive, and a sense of fulfillment!
- Confidence from Cakes! After all the concentration, direction-following, and baked good preparation, your treat finally goes into the oven and once that timer goes off, you get the sheer joy of seeing your finished product. Sure, not all baking endeavors are a success, but when the yellow cake comes out just perfectly golden brown with the best flavor, you’ve now completed a difficult task and your brain registers this as a rewarding confidence boost. Baking is no easy feat, so as the successful creations add up, so do those confidence points.
We regard baking as self-care because of the positively produced results that incur. When we engage in creating something we are proud of that simultaneously comes with a delicious treat, we get to relax, feel in control, enjoy the different tastes and textures, savor the happy hormone release, and bask in the confidence of our successful treat.
Neural Pathways and Baking
The more we engage in baking, the more we are creating new neural pathways in our brains around these enjoyable experiences. When we have more neural pathways from positive, relaxing experiences, our nervous system decreases stress responses thereby increasing overall positive mental health.
This is why baking is so good for our self-care and ultimately for our ability to have more happy days and fewer down, angry, or stressed days. Even if we have some of those days that do have stress or anger in them, it is easier to get through with the art of baking and consuming those delicious cakes, biscuits, breads, and more!
